Marvel’s movies recently gave us a ‘Civil War’ but the upcoming Russian blockbuster ‘Guardians’ takes us back to the Cold War for its own take on superhero slug-fests…
The film in question initially seemed to go under the ‘Defenders‘ moniker when translated, though Western audiences know that such a name is linked with Marvel‘s own superhero team and currently the title of the mini-series that will bring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist together for Netflix.
It now appears the 2017 release is to have had the title change to ‘Zaschitniki‘ or ‘Guardians‘. Long term Marvel fans will note that there’s some obvious influence of the Avengers format (which clearly was an inspiration, seeing a group pf super-powered people recruited to defend the homeland against evil forces) but also another team, the Soviet Super Soldiers who first appeared in a 1981 issue of the Incredible Hulk title. After all, how many Cold War Russian super-teams have a giant humanoid bear at their disposal (especially those that can wield machine guns…)? That being said, if the film IS fully set in the Cold War then there’s certainly some modern-looking technology in there…
The film’s director is Sarik Andreasyan (best known for Pregnant and American Heist) and is due for release in Russia around February of next year. There is, as yet, no news on US or UK distribution rights or if audiences in the West will be able to find legitimate copies. However it clearly looks like something worth seeking out… especially as there’s rumours of a planned sequel already in the works.
Definitely one to watch out for…
